


Rearview Mirror

by Diana_Munroe



Category: Farscape, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004)
Genre: F/M, Late Halloween Post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27363694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diana_Munroe/pseuds/Diana_Munroe
Summary: After purchasing a new spaceship for family vacation, John, Aeryn and baby Deke take the craft out for a ride, only to realize they brought something unexpected along with them.
Relationships: John Crichton/Aeryn Sun
Kudos: 2





	Rearview Mirror

“Are you sure this is a tradition on your homeworld?” Aeryn asked as she let John lead her across the corridor. After temporarily leaving their son in the caring, but questionable hands of Chiana, John convinced her to come with him to the docking bay. That in and of itself was not unusual, but the blindfold left her questioning her husband on multiple levels. Not only had Moya been their homes for the past 5 years, but she also shared a special connection to the living ship which allowed her to navigate the corridors and pathways better than anyone ship. 

“It is when you’re trying to surprise someone,” John replied gently as he guided her through the ship. 

“I don’t like surprises, John,” Aeryn replied flatly. 

“You’ll like this one,” he said and kissed her quickly, “Trust me.” 

Aeryn sighed, but let John continue to lead the way. They stopped in the middle of the docking bay and John stepped away from her. 

“Okay,” he said, “Take off your blindfold.” 

Aeryn took off the offending fabric in a rush and looked up to see the ugliest spacecraft she had ever seen in her life. Clearly built from cannibalized parts of other spacecrafts, it looked barely capable of lift, let alone any actual maneuverability. John had the widest smile on his face as his arms gestured at the craft. 

“What is that?” Aeryn asked in disgust. 

“It’s a minivan,” he announced. 

“A what?” 

“The family car.” 

Aeryn still stared at him blankly. John walked up to her. 

“Hear me out. We’ve made it work, but there’s barely enough space for the two of us in your prowler and my module, but with this, we can take the little guy with us.”

Aeryn narrowed her eyes at him, “We already take Deke with us.” 

“Because he’s small. What happens when he’s 3 or 5 and needs to move around?” 

“Then we take a transport pod, there’s no reason for this…” Aeryn looked up at the ship again, “Monstrosity.” 

“Sweetheart,” he cajoled, “Think of it as a family project. It’s not much to look at now, but we could make it like a second home.”

Aeryn looked at John quizzically, “Moya is our home.” 

John let out a long sigh, “Yes. But this is something we can make together. We could run errands in with it, go on family vacations, take Deke to Disney World.”

“Disney World?” 

“It’s just the happiest place on Earth,” John said cheerfully. 

“From what I remember, Earth doesn’t have many happy places.”

“I admit that Earth did not show its best face when you and the crew came with me. But come on,” John said, pushing Aeryn closer to the ship, “This could be good for us. Your pilot skills, my engineering, we could make it the best family vehicle in the Uncharted Territories.” 

Aeryn hadn’t seen John this excited over a project in a long time. The wormhole turned weapon of mass destruction took so much out of him; his wonder, his excitement, his hope for the future. Family was the only thing that kept him going these days. Truth be told, she missed the wide-eyed scientist part of her husband before he became hardened by four years of close calls, torture, and near-death experiences. If this “project” was something else he could find joy in, she could hardly say no to it. 

She caught his eye and then lightly rolled her eyes at him. John smiled, “So we’re doing this?!” 

Aeryn put her hands on the hull and bent down to look under it, “I want to look at the bones of this thing first, but,” she looked at John her shoulder and smiled back at him, “Yes, we can keep it.” 

John pumped his fist, “Yes. You won’t regret it.”

Aeryn laughed.

“Oh, I’m sure I will, but it’ll be worth it,” she replied as she continued to inspect their new space vehicle.  
*********  
Six months later 

John strapped his son into the homemade car seat he had built for this exact occasion. Moya had passed in range of a small, but seemingly friendly planet of traders and farmers. The population seemed to be a space capable, but simple people who mostly stayed to themselves. It wasn’t Disney World, but John thought it was a good start. John looked down at his wife as she moved closer to Deke. 

“And you’re sure, you want me to drive first?” he asked. 

Aeyn just nodded at the control panel and double-checked Deke’s safety straps. John smiled at them and took his seat at the helm. The new blue SUV (Space Utility Vehicle) Patience lifted off and made its way out of Moya’s docking bay. Once clear of Moya, John checked in with Pilot. 

“Hey, Pilot. You reading us?” John asked. 

“Loud and clear, Commander. Have a pleasant vacation,” Pilot replied in his soothing tones. 

“Thanks. We’ll be back soon,” John said and turned off the comms. 

He smoothly banked Patience toward the planet. It would take them 2 hours or so for them to arrive, but John didn’t mind the travel. Seeing the planet come into focus, John smiled and set the auto controls. 

“Hey Aeryn, can you bring Deke here? I just want him to see this,” John asked. 

Aeryn unstrapped Deke and held him close as they made their way to the cockpit. She handed Deke over to John and he held him facing the viewer window. 

“You see that, buddy,” he said, “That’s where you and I are going to play. Roll around, maybe some baseball.” 

“Baseball?” 

“It’s perfectly safe.” 

Suddenly the ship jerked sideways, throwing them off course and flinging Aeryn across the ship. John held on to Deke tightly and grabbed the controls with his other hand. 

Quickly righting the ship, he called back to Aeryn, “You okay.”

“Yes,” she said groaning and got back up, “What was that?” 

“I don’t know. It’s was like the ship had a mind of its own for a minute,” John said. 

“A mind of its own?” Aeryn questioned and went back into the cockpit, “Get up. Let me.”

“No arguments here,” John said and unstrapped himself. He quickly went to the back of the vessel and strapped Deke into his seat. Aeryn put on her headset and clicked several buttons in quick succession. 

“Initiating internal scan,” she announced.

“You think we have a stowaway?” 

“I don’t know what I think yet, but this ship shouldn’t go off the track like that,” she stated. 

She had surprised herself with how much she enjoyed building and retrofitting this ship with John. A combination of John’s scientific interest and her military practicality, Patience was a capable ship, with enough weapons that Aeryn felt like she could defend her family if need be, but not so many that it made John nervous. She took personal pride in the navigation system which John has secured on a trading outpost. While it was slightly outdated Peacekeeper technology, it was serviceable and Aeryn felt more comfortable with a technology she could rely on and knew how to fix. 

“Scan complete,” the computer chirped. Aeryn looked at the readings, confused. 

“That doesn’t--” 

The ship dove suddenly into a roll, tumbling wilding in the blackness of space. Deke screamed, his innocent cries galvanizing Aeryn to get control of the ship before they crashed. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. The ship stalled, floating in nothingness. 

“Aeryn?” John asked. 

Aeryn shook her head. John rested his hand on the phase pistol at his side. The lights shut down, with the red emergency back up lights quickly taking their place. 

John and Aeryn locked eyes. 

“We’re not alone,” Aeryn said. 

John grabbed his pistol then, “What do you mean ‘not alone’?”

“I don’t know, I can just feel it.” she said, scanning the area around them. 

“Whoever you are, show yourself,” she shouted into space. 

This ship jerked forward, surprising them. Aeryn recovered first, “You're going to have to do better than that.” 

John looked at her questioningly. ‘Trust me’ she mouthed back. 

“Come on, coward. Who are you?” Aeryn taunted. 

A deep, resonant voice answered with a low chuckle, “I’ve been called many things, Officer Sun, but a coward was never one of them.”

A figure materialized between them. As the figure gained solidity, John recognized the Peacekeeper flight suit, but it was facing Aeryn. As she looked up into his face, she turned white as a sheet. 

“Tauvo,” she whispered. 

He cocked his head at her, “Is that how you address a superior officer?” 

“Hey, Casper,” John announced, holding his pulse pistol up, “Back away from my wife.” 

“Wife?” Tauvo asked, “I didn’t know you had it in you.” 

“What do you want, Tauvo?” 

“The only thing I’ve ever been allowed to want: To serve the High Command and die gloriously in battle,” he replied and then turned to head to face John. John finally saw what had made Aeryn react with such fear. The face his saw was one he had only seen once, but it was imprinted on his memory. It was Captain Crais’ brother, the man he had accidentally killed with three minutes of landing in this corner of space. 

“THINGS THAT YOU TOOK FROM ME!” Tauvo shouted, causing the ship to shake and rattle with the power of his voice. 

“Ok, Calm Down,” John said. 

A shark-like smile came around Tauvo’s tanned face, “Calm down? But I’ve waited all this time to meet you, my murderer.” 

“I didn’t murder anyone. It was an accident,” John insisted. 

Tauvo leaned toward him, “But I’m still dead.” 

Deke’s cries broke the stillness. Tauvo vanished and reappeared right behind the child. 

“Now what have we got here?” Tauvo asked. Both Aeryn and John’s weapons were trained on him before he finished his sentence. 

Tauvo looked at both of them and laughed, “You can’t kill me if I’m already dead.” 

John and Aeryn took a step toward him in perfect unison. 

“You on the other hand,” he said and twirled his finger, causing the ship to the spin round and round, knocking John and Aeryn to the ground. They rolled to and fro as the ship tumbled end over end. Tauvo stopped the ship and leaned in close to Deke. 

“Good thing Mother and Father strapped you in. I don’t think you would have survived that one,” he said nonchalantly. 

With scraps and bruises on their bodies, both John and Aeryn made their way to their feet. John snarled at him, “What are you?” 

“He’s a Deftic, a memory,” Aeryn replied. Tauvo smiled. 

“Well done, Officer Sun. You've been reading,” he said. 

“What?” John asked.

“We don’t talk about superior officers, but it’s a lesson we all get. Certain Sebecean believe that our vows follow us into death and a Peacekeeper’s essence can be trapped in the object they fought with.” 

“Or died in.” 

“Then how did you get here?” John insisted, “Your prowler’s busted up on a forgotten asteroid.”

Suddenly the truth dawned on John and he glanced at the cockpit, “Scavenger.” 

“You ought to be more careful who you purchase your navigation system from,” he taunted. 

“What do you want now?” John asked. 

“I want to go home,” Tauvo said.

“Home?” Aeryn asked and then she remembered something Crais told her about being taken from his parents at the young age, charged with protecting his little brother, “You mean your home planet.” 

“Bury my memory there so I might find peace,”

“And all of this?” John asked, referring to his bloody nose. 

“Was to just get your attention. My planet is 10 solar days from here,” Tauvo. 

John quickly did the math and this journey of redemption looked like it was going to cost his entire 1st vacation with his wife and son. 

“Can this wait until we reunite with Moya?” he asked. 

“No,” Tauvo insisted, “Or will roll this ship into the next asteroid.” 

Tauvo, then disappeared. The lights came back and it looked like the ship was back under their control. Aeryn and John looked at each other. Aeryn but her hands on the controls while looking at John. Reluctantly, he nodded to her and they pulled away from the planet, plotting a course to Crias’ home world where they could hopefully put this last bit of their past to rest.


End file.
